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\nModern continues to be a popular format, and as players continue to discover the format, cards from the past are returning to prominence. Today, we\u2019re going to be looking at Spellskite, a card that\u2019s been printed fairly recently, but is still generating a lot of questions. So let\u2019s take a look at it.<\/p>\n
The target can only be changed if Spellskite is a legal target for the spell or ability. For instance, you could use Spellskite\u2019s ability targeting Go for the Throat, but when Spellskite\u2019s ability resolves, the target will not be changed, because Spellskite is not a legal target for Go for the Throat.<\/p>\n This also means that if Spellskite has hexproof or protection from the relevant color, you won\u2019t be able to change the target of the spell or ability either, since Spellskite would not be a legal target for it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Using the attach ability of a card like Cranial Plating works the same way. The Plating\u2019s attach ability can only target a creature you control, so if your opponent activates the attach ability of the Plating, Spellskite can\u2019t change the target of the attach ability to Spellskite.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Daybreak Coronet deserves a special mention here. The Coronet can only be attached to a creature that already has an aura attached to it. So for Spellskite to be a legal target for the Coronet, Spellskite must already have an aura attached to it. Activating the ability if Spellskite has no auras attached to it just means that the target for the Coronet will not be changed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This also means that you can cast Electrolyze targeting Spellskite and something else, and your opponent won\u2019t be able to change the other target of Electrolyze to Spellskite. It\u2019s a sneaky way of ensuring that you can kill an opponent\u2019s Noble Hierarch<\/a>, even if they have a Spellskite on the board.<\/p>\n For instance, if the Command is cast with “destroy target artifact” targeting Spellskite and “deal 2 damage to target creature or player” targeting a Kitchen Finks<\/a>, you can use Spellskite to change the target from the Finks to the Spellskite, resulting in the Command targeting Spellskite with both modes. It even works just fine if Spellskite isn’t targeted at all: you just need to activate Spellskite’s ability twice to change both targets of the Command to Spellskite.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We established above that Spellskite can steal Splinter Twin while it\u2019s on the stack, but it wont\u2019 work against Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker<\/a>\u2019s ability. Kiki-Jiki\u2019s ability can only target a nonlegendary creature you control, so you can\u2019t use Spellskite on Kiki-Jiki\u2019s ability.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at the other half of the combo. Pestermite<\/a>‘s ability can target any permanent, so you can use Spellskite to redirect Pestermite<\/a>\u2019s trigger to Spellskite. But it won\u2019t work against Deceiver Exarch<\/a>\u2019s or Restoration Angel<\/a>\u2019s triggered ability. The Angel\u2019s ability and the Exarch\u2019s untap ability can only target a permanent you control (just like Kiki-Jiki\u2019s ability), so Spellskite cannot change the target of them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hopefully, you\u2019ve learned a thing or two about how Spellskite works and what it can and cannot affect. Join me next time, when I talk about another popular Modern card, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>
\nSpellskite\u2019s ability can target any spell or ability, not just a spell or ability with a target. So you can legally play the ability targeting something like a Supreme Verdict<\/a>, it just won\u2019t do anything when it resolves because Supreme Verdict<\/a> doesn\u2019t target anything.<\/p>\nSpellskite and Equipment<\/b><\/h1>\n
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\nYou can activate Spellskite\u2019s ability targeting an opponent\u2019s equip ability. However, the equip ability has a restriction of only being able to target a creature you control. So if your opponent activates the equip ability of their Batterskull<\/a>, you can activate Spellskite\u2019s ability targeting the ability. But when the ability resolves, since your Spellskite is not a legal target for the ability, the ability will do nothing and the target for the ability will remain unchanged.<\/p>\nSpellskite and Auras<\/b><\/h1>\n
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\nI do have some good news regarding auras, however. An aura spell on the stack targets, so you can use Spellskite\u2019s ability on an aura like Splinter Twin<\/a> to change the target of the Twin to your Spellskite, rather than your opponent\u2019s creature.. Note that auras only target while they\u2019re on the stack. They don\u2019t target anything while they\u2019re on the battlefield, so you can\u2019t move an aura that\u2019s already on the battlefield with Spellskite\u2019s ability.<\/p>\nSpellskite and Multiple Target Spells<\/b><\/h1>\n
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\nSpellskite interacts interestingly with spells with multiple targets that could target Spellskite. For instance, let\u2019s look at Electrolyze. If Electrolyze has only one target, you can use Spellskite to change the target of it to Spellskite. But if Electrolyze has two targets, you can only change one of the two targets to Spellskite. An Electrolyze cast this way has two targets. You cannot target the same creature or player more than once. So you can change one of the targets to Spellskite, but you won\u2019t be able to change the other target to the same Spellskite, since Electrolyze is already targeting Spellskite.<\/p>\n<\/p>
\nLet’s say your opponent casts Kolaghan’s Command, choosing the third and fourth modes. \u00a0Since the Command uses the word ‘target’ twice, that means that the Command can target the same thing multiple times. You can change both targets of the Command to Spellskite to protect your other artifacts and\/or creatures. This is different from Electrolyze, since Electrolyze uses the word ‘target’ once.<\/p>\nSpellskite and the Splinter Twin Deck<\/b><\/h1>\n
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\nThe Splinter Twin deck (which runs Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker<\/a> and Splinter Twin in hopes of making a large number of Pestermite<\/a>, Deceiver Exarch<\/a>, or Restoration Angel<\/a> tokens and attacking with them) has quite a few cards it can run, and Spellskite can interfere with some of the combo pieces but not other parts. So let\u2019s look at each piece and see if Spellskite can interfere with it.<\/p>\nConclusion<\/b><\/h1>\n